Hindu Push-Up
chest
What moves the load, and what it costs
8.0MET
Chest is the prime mover, with the front deltoid, triceps, lats assisting. A traditional Indian wrestling movement — the dand — still trained daily in akharas across the country. It combines a push with a large shoulder and spine range, which is why it feels like nothing else on this list.
Cue: Start hips-high, sweep the chest down and through close to the floor, then finish with the arms straight and the chest lifted.
Written on other cards as: Dand · Dive bomber push-up
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·FILED UNDER CALISTHENICS, VIGOROUS·REVIEWED JUL 2026
SHARED AXIS · SEVEN VALUES FROM ONE TABLE · HIGHLIGHTED ROW IS THIS MOVEMENT
The compendium files hindu push-up under a category, not a lift. Read the ladder as position, not precision: this is heavier work than sitting quietly by a factor of 8.0, and at the top end of what a gym floor produces.
Turning that MET value into a real energy cost
- Map the movement to a published category. The compendium measures categories of conditioning work, never individual lifts, so hindu push-up is filed under Calisthenics (e.g. push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups), vigorous effort.
- Take the category's MET value — 8.0. One MET is the cost of sitting quietly, so this is 8.0 times resting metabolism.
- Multiply by 3.5 to get millilitres of oxygen per kilogram per minute, the unit the MET is actually defined in.
- Multiply by your bodyweight in kilograms and divide by 200. The result is kilocalories per minute of work.
- Count working minutes only. Under load, not under the roof — a set of eight is about 25 seconds of the hour you were there.
kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × body mass (kg) ÷ 200 Hindu Push-Up: 8.0 × 3.5 × 70 ÷ 200 = 9.80 kcal/min
SOURCE·ACSM metabolic equation + 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·REFERENCE BODY MASS 70 KG·REVIEWED JUL 2026
What is actually doing the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| ChestPectoralis major | Prime mover | Brings the upper arm across the body and forward (shoulder horizontal adduction and flexion). The clavicular head contributes more when the arm travels up and in; the sternal head when it travels down and in. |
| Front deltoidAnterior deltoid | Synergist / stabiliser | Raises the arm to the front (shoulder flexion) and assists horizontal adduction. Prime mover in overhead pressing, heavy synergist in every bench press. |
| TricepsTriceps brachii | Synergist / stabiliser | Straightens the elbow. The long head also crosses the shoulder, so it is stretched and loaded hardest with the arm overhead. |
| LatsLatissimus dorsi | Synergist / stabiliser | Pulls the upper arm down and back towards the ribs (shoulder extension and adduction) and rotates it inwards. It is the prime mover in every pull-up and pulldown. |
The prime mover produces the movement against the resistance; synergists assist and stabilisers hold a joint still without moving it. An exercise trains the whole muscle it loads — there is no way to work only part of a muscle, and no exercise removes fat from the area around it.
Set up, then earn the rep
Bodyweight. Every rep should look like the first one. The moment it stops looking like the first one, the set is finished.
PATTERN · PUSH
- Set your hands slightly wider than your shoulders, directly under or just below them, fingers spread and pointing forward.
- Set a straight line from ear to ankle: squeeze the glutes, brace the trunk as if about to take a light punch, and tuck the ribs down.
- Start hips-high, sweep the chest down and through close to the floor, then finish with the arms straight and the chest lifted.
- Lower under control with the elbows at roughly 45 degrees to the torso until your chest is a fist's height from the floor.
- Press back up in one piece — hips, chest and head arriving at the top together.
- Finish each rep with the shoulder blades allowed to spread slightly at the top rather than locked back.
Where this one breaks down
Not theory. These are the faults you correct on a gym floor, and the correction that actually works.
Hips sagging or piking.
The push-up is a moving plank. If the hips drop, the lower back takes the load; if they pike, the range shortens. Squeeze the glutes and brace before the first rep, not during the fifth.
Head reaching for the floor before the chest does.
It makes a partial rep look complete. The chest should be the lowest point, and the neck should stay in line with the spine.
Elbows flared to 90 degrees.
Hard on the shoulder, no better for the chest. Keep them at about 45 degrees from the ribs.
Half reps to hit a number.
Ten full-range push-ups beat thirty short ones for every purpose. Reduce the difficulty — hands elevated — rather than the range.
Regress it, or progress it
Prescription: load, reps, rest
Read off the goal, then hold the technique constant as the load climbs. Derived from the movement's mechanics, not invented for this page: a compound lift loads several joints, so it tolerates heavy loads and needs long rests.
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3–5 | 3–6 | 3–5 min | Heavy loads need long rests. Cutting rest to two minutes turns a strength set into a conditioning set. |
| Muscle size | 3–4 | 6–12 | 90–180 sec | Take most sets to within one to three reps of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle matters more than the exact rep number. |
| Endurance / fat loss | 2–4 | 12–20 | 45–75 sec | Lighter loads and shorter rests. Fat loss is decided by the diet; this preserves muscle while it happens. |
| First month | 2–3 | 8–10 | 2 min | Well short of failure, same weight every set, until the movement looks the same on the last rep as the first. |
Time under load, in kilocalories
Read these as minutes of work, not minutes in the building. A set of eight takes about twenty-five seconds; the rest of the hour is rest, chalk and queueing.
Mapped category: Calisthenics (e.g. push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups), vigorous effort — 8.0 MET. That is the published category this movement is filed under, not a measurement of this specific lift.
Worked at 8.0 MET × 3.5 × 70 kg ÷ 200 = 9.80 kcal per working minute for a 70 kg adult. Scale it by your own bodyweight; the equation is linear. The full activity dataset lives at BurnLab.
SOURCE·2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities·CATEGORY VALUE, NOT A PER-EXERCISE MEASUREMENT·REVIEWED JUL 2026
If the rack is taken
Substitutes train the same prime mover through the same pattern with different kit. Computed from the muscle and pattern data on this card, not hand-picked to fill a grid.
This one needs no equipment at all, which is why it belongs in every travel and home programme. Every no-equipment movement is listed together.
Where it sits in a week
One movement is not a programme. The twelve templates put these in order, including 6 that need no gym at all.
The questions that come up on the floor
What muscles does the hindu push-up work?
Hindu Push-Up is a compound movement in which the chest is the prime mover, assisted by the front deltoid, triceps, lats. Brings the upper arm across the body and forward (shoulder horizontal adduction and flexion). The clavicular head contributes more when the arm travels up and in; the sternal head when it travels down and in.
Is the hindu push-up good for beginners?
Not on day one, but it is reachable within a few weeks. It rates 3 out of 5 for technical demand. Work up through the easier versions listed on this page first, starting with the push-up.
What can I do instead of the hindu push-up at home?
Nothing is needed — the hindu push-up already requires no equipment at all, which is why it belongs in any home programme.
How many sets and reps of the hindu push-up should I do?
For muscle size, 3–4 sets of 6–12 with 90–180 sec rest. For strength, 3–5 sets of 3–6 with 3–5 min rest. In your first month, 2–3 sets of 8–10, stopping well short of failure. Total weekly hard sets per muscle group matters more than the exact rep number in any of these ranges.
Does the hindu push-up burn fat from the chest?
No. No exercise removes fat from the area it trains — spot reduction has been tested repeatedly and does not happen. Training the chest builds the muscle underneath; where body fat is lost from is decided by an overall calorie deficit and by your genetics, not by which exercise you chose.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
SOURCE·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·REVIEWED JUL 2026
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